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Library offers help for job seekers

By Rick Joslin

OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System Director Michael Sawyer is proud that libraries have long been recognized as a leading source of information. But he also wants the library to be a proactive partner in a push to improve both the perceptions and realities of the community.

Thus, he’s putting the library to work as a tool in not only helping prepare persons to pursue employment, but also to learn of job openings locally and statewide.

Sawyer, who told the Pine Bluff City Council in its Monday meeting that the library is “the community hub where people can come and access various resources,” is pitching the Jobview employment opportunities and Cypress Resume database programs as added services of the library’s user-friendly pineblufflibrary.org website.

Noting Pine Bluff’s “double-digit unemployment problem,” Sawyer said Jobview is a Minnesota company that has “put together all of the job opportunities in Arkansas.” To access the database, connect to the library website and go to the drop box under “research.” There, click on “Job Hunting” and then “Jobview.”

Viewers can scan “All Jobs in Arkansas” or scroll down for available positions in Pine Bluff.

“This site lists all of the state’s major cities,” said Sawyer. “The jobs are listed by type, such as accounting and finance, and retail.”

Sawyer said Jobview has four features — “job description,” “texting to the company,” “emailing to the company” and “applying online.”

“There are part- and full-time jobs available,” he said. “Jobview collects these openings from various sources, such as Snap-a-Job, Career Builder, and so forth. It is updated daily. People can access this at the library or from their home computer.”

Boasting that the local library is the state’s first to offer the program, he said that the site listed 447 job opportunities in the city on Monday. That number had dropped to 273 within three days, but Sawyer said the number changes daily. Statewide, job listings typically total over 10,000 each day.

Cypress Resume, which unlike Jobview requires a library card to access remotely, can formulate a resume tailored to the individual job seeker.

“All the person has to do is enter the information on the questions being asked into the designated area,” Sawyer said. “Upon completion, it will create a professional resume for that person and take out the guesswork in creating a resume.

“This database covers virtually all professions,” he continued. “This, too, can be accessed from home as well as at the library.”

Sawyer sees the programs as investments that should help strengthen area expectations.

“With these two new databases,” he said, “the library can provide citizens an opportunity to find jobs and help improve the future of Pine Bluff and Jefferson County.”